Turkish authorities ' use of live ammunition , tear gas , beatings and sexual assaults to crush street protests earlier this year constitute `` human rights violations on a massive scale , '' according to a report by human rights watchdog Amnesty International .

Amnesty documented cases of Turkish riot police firing plastic bullets and tear gas canisters at the heads of protesters . It also accused police of sexually abusing female demonstrators and of severely beating and shooting protesters with live ammunition , resulting in the deaths of two men in separate incidents .

The report , released Wednesday , focused on the turmoil that erupted in May and June , when police tried to put down an environmentalist sit-in . Demonstrators had staged an Occupy Wall Street-style protest over government plans to demolish Istanbul 's Gezi Park and replace it with a shopping mall .

`` The levels of violence used by police in the course of Gezi Park protests clearly show what happens when poorly trained , poorly supervised police officers are instructed to use force -- and encouraged to use it unsparingly -- safe in the knowledge that they are unlikely ever to be identified or prosecuted for their abuses , '' said Amnesty International 's Turkey expert , Andrew Gardner .

The Turkish government has launched an investigation into the possible excess use of force . At least one police officer from a counter-terrorism unit is standing trial along with other suspects for beating a protester named Ali Ismail Korkmaz in the Turkish city of Eskisehir . The 19-year-old university student later died as a result of his injuries .

Government announces democratic reforms

Amnesty International 's report emerged two days after the Turkish government unveiled a long-awaited series of reforms , which the rights group said fails `` to address these violations or to take any serious steps to ensure that they will not occur in the future . ''

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan applauded what he called the `` democratization package , '' declaring it a historic moment for the country .

The legislation lifts the ban on women wearing Islamic headscarves in public institutions . However , women serving as police officers , judges or military personnel are still not allowed to wear headscarves .

The reforms also removed the ban on teaching the Kurdish language , and ended the ban of the Kurdish letters `` q , '' `` x '' and `` w , '' which do not exist in the Turkish alphabet . However , Kurdish can only be taught in private schools , even though it is the language spoken by Turkey 's largest ethnic minority .

Another change called for expanding the definition and punishment for hate crimes committed on the basis of ethnicity or religious belief .

The democratization package quickly inspired a chorus of criticism from a wide range of ethnic , religious and political groups .

`` This is more of an election package , '' said Sebahat Tuncel , a lawmaker from the main Kurdish opposition party , referring to municipal elections expected to be held in 2014 .

`` This package could have lifted the obstacles to democratization . It could have lifted barriers to freedom of the press , to freedom of expression and amended the anti-terror laws , '' Tuncel added .

Thousands of Kurds have been arrested in recent years , accused of collaborating with the Kurdistan Workers Party -LRB- PKK -RRB- , whose militants have been fighting a guerrilla war for the past 30 years against the Turkish state .

Erdogan 's government has tried to bring an end to the simmering conflict by launching negotiations with jailed PKK leader Abdullah Ocalan . The peace talks have prompted some of the PKK 's thousands of fighters to voluntarily leave Turkey for neighboring Iraq .

Meanwhile , women 's groups and lesbian , gay , bisexual and transsexual activists are upset that the reforms did not include reference to hate crimes committed on the basis of gender or sexual orientation .

Though Erdogan offered to create a cultural institute for Turkey 's Roma minority and promised to return a government-seized monastery to the Assyrian Christians , he stopped short of reopening the Halki Seminary , which traditionally educated the country 's top Greek Orthodox clergy .

For decades , members of Turkey 's dwindling Greek community , as well as many Western governments , have called for Turkey to lift its ban on Halki .

`` I think it is a step forward and the government says more will come , '' wrote Suat Kiniklioglu , a former lawmaker from Erdogan 's ruling Justice and Development Party -LRB- AKP -RRB- , in an e-mail to CNN .

`` However , the real issue in Turkey is political and cultural polarization . I wish the package would address issues such as freedom of expression and pluralism . ''

Turkish president calls for reform

Turkey 's president warned about the threats this polarization posed in an address before the Turkish parliament Tuesday .

`` I viewed the peaceful demonstrations of the young people at Gezi Park ... as a new manifestation of our democratic maturity , '' said Abdullah Gul .

Gul argued that Turkey still had a long way to go in its democratization process .

`` The effective and efficient operation of executive , legislative and judicial powers ; the existence of a serious , constructive and strong opposition ; a free , critical , impartial and independent media are of utmost importance for a country 's democratic development , '' he said in his speech to lawmakers .

Gul has been a loyal ally of Erdogan through the prime minister 's decade in office .

But as his term in the largely symbolic post of president draws to a close , Gul has increasingly challenged some of Erdogan 's more controversial policies .

The increasingly divergent political positions have prompted widespread speculation that Gul may be preparing to submit himself as a candidate to be the next prime minister of Turkey .

@highlight

Police beat , shot , sexually abused protesters , rights group says

@highlight

The demonstrators wanted to keep a park from becoming a shopping mall

@highlight

The Turkish government has launched a probe of the alleged abuses